Knights Templars: Magicians or Knights

The Knights Templar:

An Analysis of Religious Factors Contributing the Fall of the Templar Knight Order

"Take your part in the suffering, as a loyal soldier of Christ Jesus. A soldier on active duty wants to please his commanding officer and so does not get mixed up in the affairs of civilian life"

Paul of Tarsus c.64AD

"You have heard that it was said, Ð''Love your friends and hate your enemies'; but now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

Jesus of Nazareth c.30AD

he literature surrounding the rise and demise of the Templars is extensive and varied to say the least. Theories of the development and downfall of the order range from the unorthodoxly mythical to the more conventional historically rooted.

Although much has been written of the social, political and economical character of the Templars' demise by the latter of these, the religious factor has often been overlooked.

After providing a historical backdrop of the Templar order from 1118, four main factors contributing to its rapid rise will be examined. The Templars military and financial activities will be scrutinized followed by a brief look at the order's French suppression from 1312-14. Following the analysis it will be argued that, although the Templars were victims of the political machinations of members of the European nobility and the papacy, their overall weakness lay in their attempt to reconcile spiritual and secular values that are by nature opposite, something which had been avoided in Christianity for centuries. The scholarly concepts of Armstrong of mythos (spiritual) and logos (secular) will be used to support this notion. Finally it will be argued that this internal weakness was exploited by the Templars' enemies used in its demise.

uring the early 12th century, the Holy Land became a place of great political, religious and social instability. After the brutal success of the First Crusade in which Christians recovered the lands from Muslim hands, most of the Latin armies headed home leaving the fragile Latin states vulnerable to their hostile Muslim neighbours. As the European population grew and news reached the farthest corners of Christendom of the new opportunities brought about by the conquering of the East, hordes of pilgrims flocked to Palestine in search of political, economic and spiritual redemption. These hordes of pilgrims were left not only to the mercy of the barren, harsh elements of Middle Eastern topography, but to that of Arab-Bedouin brigands operating within the hostile pilgrim routes connecting Jerusalem with other surrounding cities. It was under these circumstances in 1118 that a French knight, Hugh de Payens, along with eight other Frankish knights vowed to offer their lives in protection of the Christian pilgrims.

In a request to the Latin king of Jerusalem Baldwin II, de Payens and his followers asked permission to take monastic vows of chastity, poverty and obedience and live temporary under Augustinian Rule. The knights offered to patrol the desolate road between Jaffa and Jerusalem, in exchange for mere living necessities.

With his forces out-stretched to the limit, Baldwin gladly accepted the proposal and after commissioning their vows in the church of the Holy Sepulcher, gave them part of his palace, in the adjacent al-Aqsa Mosque, formerly part of the Temple of Solomon. Hence, the order first became known as Ð''the Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon' or simply the Ð''Knights Templar'.

Ten years later in 1128, the order was officially recognized by the pope at the Council of Troyes through the influence of a Cistercian monk known as Bernard of Clairvaux.

It was Bernard who eventually became the Templars' greatest proponent. This was due to that fact that he was related to de Payens.

Robinson asserts Bernard's influence by stating:

"It is almost impossible to overstate the importance of Bernard of Clairvaux's role in the establishment of the Templar order"

The order received a modified version of the Rule of St. Benedict of Nursia.

Following its recognition, the Templars soon became one of the most powerful monastic orders in Christendom. The pope granted the new order plenty of land, and encouraged Europe's nobility to do the same. These helped out with land, knights, capital to name a few. Troyes had been the catalyst for growth in the order.

Another contributing factor to the Templars rise was the reconciliation of two previously irreconcilable concepts within the clergy: Killing and being a cleric. Nowhere was this more evident and effective than through Bernard's exultation of the order in De laude novae militiae in the 1130s.

"Obviously, when he [the knight] kills an evil doer, he does not commit a homicide, but rather one might say a malicide, and clearly is considered the avenger of Christ against those that do evil"

"If striking with a sword is for a Christian a totally forbidden act, why therefore, did the herald* of Christ tell the soldiers to be content with their wages?"

Other early 12th century sources seem to support the reconciliation. Guigo du Pins letter to Hugh de Payns c.1129 reiterates:

"In this war everyone will be that much stronger, will enjoy a much more glorious triumph over the numerous enemies he has slain, under the protection and guidance of God"

A third factor in the rise of the Templars was monastic life.

Although monastic life required great sacrifices, the sense of equality and sense of meaning experienced within the order was particularly strong. Salvation played a pivotal role within this religious dimension. After the Council of Troyes, de Payens set about Europe looking for new recruits. Papal recognition allowed him to recruit knights who had been excommunicated or were under serious sin (rape, murder, looting etc). Joining the order was thus, the only means of Ð''salvation' for many knights. Every knight was also considered equal which was ordained by the Rule itself. Thus many poorer knights of less well-known origins found their status heightened after taking vows.

The efforts of the Templars soon extended from protecting pilgrims to full scale warfare with Muslim forces.